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Synthetic/Feather shuttles

Does it make alot of difference to you when playing with them? After getting used to feathered shuttles and their superior performance to plastic birds, I was forced to play with plastic in a high school tournament. Things I were doing with feathered weren't working as well with the plastics. What I want to know is, what are the major/minor differences? Any helpful replies are welcome.

Re: Synthetic/Feather shuttles

Feather shuttles are the best damn shuttles to use. They are the official bird to use in tournaments and playing. The only reason that high schoolers had to use the nylon shuttles is because of cost. The schools don't have enough or won't pay for feather shuttles. I hate nylon shuttles. They tend to fly faster and they mess up my strings. I love feather shuttles. Easy to hit and consistant in flying.

Re: Synthetic/Feather shuttles

Yeah, my smahes are probably about 50 - 80% better with feathered ones than plastic. After 3 weeks of playing with feathered, when I ahd to play with plastic at school, my smahes mostly ran into the top 2 inches of the net. This lasted until I finally got used to them again. Do plastic birds drop faster than feathered?

Re: Synthetic/Feather shuttles

If plastics do go faster than why not play/practice with them more? I think that if it goes faster then that should make you move faster to catch up to the bird. So wouldn't playing with plastics help improve your game?

Re: Synthetic/Feather shuttles

I think it really depends on what speed of each type of shuttle you are comparing. I have only played with feather shuttles at one tournament and I found I was consistently hitting them 1-1.5 feet long. This particular batch of Aerosensa 30's was definitely faster than the Mavis 300's I had been using.

Re: Synthetic/Feather shuttles

I have a racquet designated for feather and another for plastic. The strings on them are bg 70 pro and bg 80. Both strung at about 30 lbs. I do see a difference in how the bird responds according to the strings i.e. bg 70 is good with plastic and bg 80 is good with feather. But when it comes to how the bird flies, it really depends on the conditions of the gym you play in. I've played in many gyms and have had varying speeds. When it's really hot, plastic birds don't fly well, but feathers fly a little better. When it's cool, plastic bird fly like bullets. When it comes to strokes, like slicing then there are major difference because plastic birds just don't fly right when you put some touch on them as oppose to feather.